NewLeaf Travel Company Inc., branded as NewLeaf, was a Canadian virtual airline, or ticket reseller, based at

Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

Manitoba Manitoba ( ) is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada at the Centre of Canada, longitudinal centre of the country. It is Canada's Population of Canada by province and territory, fifth-most populous province, with a population o ...

. It sold tickets for flights operated by

Flair Airlines Flair Airlines is a Canadian ultra low-cost carrier (ULCC) headquartered in Edmonton, Alberta. The airline operates scheduled passenger and chartered services with a fleet of Boeing 737 aircraft. The company slogan is ''Plane and Simple.'' The a ...

. In June 2017 Flair Airlines bought the company, with plans to expand its service. The NewLeaf brand was retired on July 25, 2017 when the scheduled flights were brought under the Flair Airlines brand.

History

NewLeaf was founded in April 2015 and originally described as an

ultra low-cost carrier A low-cost carrier or low-cost airline (occasionally referred to as '' no-frills'', ''budget'' or '' discount carrier'' or ''airline'', and abbreviated as ''LCC'') is an airline that is operated with an especially high emphasis on minimizing op ...

. As a result of the CTA case, the company was later positioned instead as a reseller, buying airline seats and then reselling them to the public. Jim Young, a former executive of

Frontier Airlines Frontier Airlines is a major ultra-low-cost U.S. airline headquartered in Denver, Colorado. It operates flights to over 100 destinations throughout the United States and 31 international destinations, and employs more than 3,000 staff. The ca ...

and

Canada Jetlines Canada Jetlines, Ltd., operating as Jetlines, is a Canadian ultra low-cost airline headquartered in Mississauga, Ontario. Jetlines aims to meet the market demand in Canada for low-fare air travel, planning to follow the business model of Eur ...

, proposed the venture. Young announced the airline will fly to secondary airports in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

in order to save on

landing fee A landing fee is a charge paid by an aircraft operator to an airport company for landing at a particular airport. Landing fees can vary greatly between airports, with congested airports, ones where most of the landing slots are held by airlines ...

s; it will also offer vacation packages, after experimenting with selling spring ski packages to the

Okanagan The Okanagan ( ), also known as the Okanagan Valley and sometimes as the Okanagan Country, is a region in the Canadian province of British Columbia defined by the basin of Okanagan Lake and the Canadian portion of the Okanagan River. It is part ...

. The airline will partner with

, which will provide aircraft,

crew A crew is a body or a class of people who work at a common activity, generally in a structured or hierarchical organization. A location in which a crew works is called a crewyard or a workyard. The word has nautical resonances: the tasks involve ...

and maintenance.Jang, Brent (April 6, 2015)
"New budget airline NewLeaf Travel seeks clearance for takeoff"
''The Globe and Mail''. Retrieved January 6, 2016.Bernier, Nicolas (January 6, 2016)
"Meet Canada’s New ULCC: New Leaf Travel"
''Airways News''. Retrieved January 6, 2016. On June 8, 2015, the company selected

Winnipeg Airport Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport (commonly known as Winnipeg International Airport or Winnipeg Airport) is a Transport Canada designated international airport located in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It is the seventh b ...

as its

headquarters Headquarters (commonly referred to as HQ) denotes the location where most, if not all, of the important functions of an organization are coordinated. In the United States, the corporate headquarters represents the entity at the center or the to ...

and hub, along with

Kelowna Airport Kelowna International Airport is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or northeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Highway 97. The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, ...

and Hamilton Airport as bases. In July 2016 two consulting companies who had done work in 2014 and 2015 for NewLeaf levelled complaints that they had not been paid a total of $135,000 owed. The unpaid bills raised media concerns that the company was having solvency issues, although a lawyer representing NewLeaf characterized the issues as supplier disagreements. One of the unpaid vendors launched a lawsuit against the company in July 2016 for the owed $76,000. On July 12, 2016 media reports indicated that the company was no longer planning to serve

Fort St. John, British Columbia Fort St. John is a city located in northeastern British Columbia, Canada. The most populous municipality in the Peace River Regional District, the city encompasses a total area of about with 20,155 residents recorded in the 2016 Census. Located ...

, an initially-planned destination. Just five days prior to the first scheduled flights the company had not finalized arrangements, including landing fee deposits with

Kelowna International Airport Kelowna International Airport is a Canadian airport located approximately 10 minutes or northeast of Kelowna, British Columbia, Canada, on Highway 97. The single runway airport operates scheduled air service to Vancouver, Victoria, Calgary, E ...

. In July 2016, just before launching their service, the company was noted by

CBC News CBC News is a division of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the news gathering and production of news programs on the corporation's English-language operations, namely CBC Television, CBC Radio, CBC News Network, and CBC.ca. ...

as having some of the highest extra fees in the airline industry. CBC singled out NewLeaf for their fees of up to $92 to bring a carry-on bag on a flight and up to $80.50 for each checked bag. A management analyst from the

University of Toronto The University of Toronto (UToronto or U of T) is a public research university in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, located on the grounds that surround Queen's Park. It was founded by royal charter in 1827 as King's College, the first institution ...

Rotman School of Management The Joseph L. Rotman School of Management (commonly known as the Rotman School of Management, the Rotman School or just Rotman) is the University of Toronto's graduate business school, located in Downtown Toronto. The University of Toronto has be ...

, Joe D’Cruz, indicated in July 2016 that the outstanding unpaid consultants and lack of airport deposits indicated that the company may be underfunded for start-up. In his evaluation, D’Cruz called the company a "shoestring effort" and assessed its chances of surviving a year in business as under 25%. The first

flight operated for NewLeaf took off on July 25, 2016, departing Hamilton for Winnipeg. The company had announced that it would offer flights from Calgary and Edmonton to

Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport Phoenix–Mesa Gateway Airport , formerly Williams Gateway Airport (1994–2008) and Williams Air Force Base (1948–1993), is an international airport in the southeastern area of Mesa, Arizona, southeast of Phoenix, in Maricopa County. effect ...

commencing January 19, 2017 and from Hamilton to

Orlando Melbourne International Airport Melbourne Orlando International Airport is a public airport northwest of downtown Melbourne, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, and 50 miles southeast of Orlando, located on central Florida's Space Coast. The airport is reached by N ...

, commencing January 15, 2017, but on January 3, 2017 they cancelled both routes, indicating that competition from

WestJet WestJet Airlines Ltd. is a Canadian airline headquartered in Calgary, Alberta, near Calgary International Airport. It is the second-largest Canadian airline, behind Air Canada, operating an average of 777 flights and carrying more than 66,130 ...

on the same routes made them non-viable. The company had already sold many tickets to both new destinations when they cancelled the routes. NewLeaf is only refunding passengers the money that they paid, even though the

Canadian Transportation Agency The Canadian Transportation Agency (CTA; french: Office des transports du Canada, OTC) is the independent, quasi-judicial tribunal of the Government of Canada that makes decisions relating to federally-regulated modes of transportation (air, rai ...

's notice to carriers standards of practice require them to book passengers on another airline, since the cancellation was under the company's control. Passenger rights advocate Gabor Lukacs said, "it appears they are skirting their obligation to the public. This is a very very troublesome attitude." The CTA confirmed that because it is not an airline that the company does not fall under its jurisdiction. Airline analyst Rick Erickson said, "that's one of the risks you take when you go with a new startup versus one of the very well established majors. You can't be selling a $150 ticket to Phoenix, one way, and begin to think you can put that passenger on another carrier. Say a U.S. carrier going over Denver, the ticket is going to be $450, and NewLeaf just can't handle those costs." In January 2017 NewLeaf cancelled a series of Sunday flights from Hamilton to Halifax, Halifax to Hamilton, Abbotsford to Edmonton and from Edmonton to Kelowna, citing a scheduling conflict with Flair Airlines that resulted in a lack of aircraft to fly the routes. NewLeaf spokeswoman Julie Rempel said that the "schedule change" would last six weeks and stated that "passengers have either been re-accommodated or can travel with us on a different day." In June 2017 Flair Airlines bought NewLeaf. Flair said, "expansion is planned for new destinations beginning this year, plus the fall and winter domestic schedule will be released shortly,"

Legal challenge

On January 6, 2016, NewLeaf held

press conference A press conference or news conference is a media event in which notable individuals or organizations invite journalists to hear them speak and ask questions. Press conferences are often held by politicians, corporations, non-governmental organ ...

s at its three bases to announce it would begin flights on February 12, 2016. However, on January 18 NewLeaf announced the inaugural date had been postponed until the

(CTA) completed review of its licensing procedures. The review was to determine whether NewLeaf would be allowed to operate under an indirect licence, i.e. the licence of Flair Airlines or require its own operating certificate. While the case was being considered by the CTA, NewLeaf refunded all previously sold tickets.Ali, Anwar (January 18, 2016)
"NewLeaf Travel suspends ticket sales, issues refunds while licensing rules reviewed"
''Financial Post''. Retrieved January 18, 2016."NewLeaf discount airline postpones service, will refund tickets"
''CBC News''. January 18, 2016. Retrieved January 18, 2016. On March 29, 2016, the CTA completed the review and ruled that these airlines are not required to hold separate licenses. Following the March 2016 ruling, NewLeaf indicated that they would soon resume booking, however the next month, Gábor Lukács, an air passenger advocate, filed a request for leave to appeal the CTA decision to the

Federal Court of Appeal The Federal Court of Appeal (french: Cour d'appel fédérale) is a Canadian appellate court that hears cases concerning federal matters. History Section 101 of the Constitution Act, 1867 empowers the Parliament of Canada to establish "addit ...

and the court granted leave for the appeal. The company announced on June 23, 2016 that they would commence selling tickets immediately for flights that would start on July 25, 2016. In late July the company announced that it was suing Lukács in the

Manitoba Court of Queen's Bench The Court of King's Bench of Manitoba (french: Cour du Banc du Roi du Manitoba)—or the Court of Queen’s Bench of Manitoba, depending on the monarch—is the superior court of the Canadian province of Manitoba. The court is divided into tw ...

for defamation, requesting unspecified damages. The company alleged that Lukács carried out an "unrelenting, aggressive and malicious attack" via social media and published "false and/or misleading" information about the company and its business model.

Destinations

NewLeaf sold tickets for flights to the following destinations (flights operated by

Fleet

NewLeaf, as a virtual airline, did not own or operate any aircraft directly but sold tickets on services operated by

using

Boeing 737-400 The Boeing 737 Classic is a series of narrow-body airliners produced by Boeing Commercial Airplanes, the second generation of the Boeing 737 series of aircraft. Development began in 1979 and the first variant, the 737-300, first flew in Februa ...

aircraft.

References

External links